Visiting Alumni

After graduation many Computer Science alumni come back to visit and give something to the next generation of students following in their footsteps. They come to see faculty and friends, as well as to help with activities ranging from Internship Events, where they tell of their work experiences, to research symposiums in which they often present, judge, moderate or help organize.

The alumni in the picture above all came back to UMM to help out with the 39^th Annual Midwestern Instruction and Computer Symposium, which was hosted at UMM in 2004. They are from left to right: Marty Wolff ’85 (Bemidji State University), Wendy DeRung ’90 (University of Minnesota Morris), Tom Halvorsen ’90 (Dakota State University) and Kris Nelson ’97 (US Bank).

Fred Dickson

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota announced today that it has promoted Fred Dickson, a 20-year veteran in information technology, to chief information officer.

After a formal search of external and internal candidates, Fred Dickson emerged as the individual best suited to lead our IT organization for the future,said Colleen Reitan, Blue Cross executive vice president, operations. Dickson has been instrumental in leading Blue Cross efforts to bring on-line access and tools for our members, providers and sales agents, new approaches to data and information management and new tools for key operational areas to perform their functions more efficiently.

Dickson, who has been a Blue Cross employee since 1999, has 20 years of experience in information systems with Blue Cross, The Pillsbury Company and Prudential Insurance Company. He most recently served as vice president, customer relationship management systems and technology for Blue Cross. In that role, he was responsible for leading and directing the efforts that support the companys front-office (ebusiness) applications, analytics system and the technology disciplines of architecture, systems engineering, data management and capacity planning for all platforms.

He holds a bachelors degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Minnesota, Morris and has completed the Executive Leadership Program at the University of St. Thomas. He is a board member of Sabathani Community Center, Minneapolis, and a member of the newly formed Eagan Technology Task Force.

Kristin Kaster Lamberty

Graduated: 2000

Majors: Computer Science and French

Awards and Honors:
National Science Foundation - Graduate Research Fellowship (award year 2001). Scholar of the College (2000). President of the ACM/Computer Science Club (1998-1999). Vice-President of the ACM/Computer Science Club (1999-2000). Computer Science Discipline Representative (1998-present). Morris Campus Student Association (1997-1999). Scholastic Committee (1997-2000). Academic Affairs Committee (1997-2000). McCree Award (1999), Dian and Andy Lopez Scholarship (1998), UMM Presidential Scholarship (1996), UMM Freshman Academic Scholarship (1996), Grand Lodge of Masons Scholarship (1996), United Food and Commercial Workers Scholarship (1996), Dean's List.

Currently:
I am currently a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Institute of Technology. I'm specializing in Learning Sciences and Technology, which is kind of like a specialized kind of Human-Computer Interaction. I have written a piece of software for elementary school students to design patchwork quilt blocks and learn about math and art concepts (mostly fractions and symmetry right now). Constructionism, a particular theory about learning, suggests that people learn best when they are constructing personally meaningful artifacts with connections to things they already know and things they are learning. When learners engage in design, there are lots of opportunities for these connections, but the tricky part is supporting learners so that they can all get something out of the learning experience. The software I have created works to support children's learning and design activities.

I love my current research. I am working with children in local elementary schools who are using my software. I'm trying to understand how we can get kids engaged with this type of design software and keep them engaged over time. In the process, I've been studying the children's software use in order to characterize their engagement in the moment and over time. It feels wonderful to work with these students and show them how creative and artistic math can be.

What I wish I knew when I was at UMM:
I wish I had known that I should have taken an Operating Systems course while I was still at UMM. In grad school, it is basically assumed that you need an OS course as an undergrad.

Advice:
If you don't really like writing code, try creating a piece of software that does something you really want to do. It will be more interesting for you, and since you'll actually want to use the resulting software, you'll be motivated to make it work. Of course, if you already like coding, this is still a good idea, but it may not be quite as important if you are already motivated.

While I was at UMM, my activities included:
University Register Assistant Photo Editor (1997), Production Assistant (1996-97). Computer Science / ACM club President (1998-1999), Vice-President (1999-2000). KUMM radio DJ (1997 - 2000).

I also played a lot of soccer in the soccer club, climbed the climbing wall, played on an intramural wally-ball team, and generally had a fun time. As a photographer for the UR, I especially loved photographing basketball games.

I was a Resident Advisor in Independence Hall and then Gay Hall. My first year at UMM, I lived on Gay II-III... perhaps the best floor in the whole world, and also the floor where I was an RA my senior year. It's the place where my husband proposed to me on my graduation day. Ah, memories. Go UMM!

Brent Heeringa

Graduated: 1999

Majors: Computer Science and Mathematics

Awards and Honors:
Chancellor's Award, Allan W. Edson Award, Scholar of the College.

Where I am Now:
I am a graduate student in Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I am finishing my final year of study. I work with Prof. Micah Adler on combinatorial optimization problems with applications to the organization of information. This past year I taught the Theory of Computation and Algorithm Design at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

What I Wish I'd Done at UMM:
My biggest regret in college is not studying abroad. I believe every student should take advantage of this opportunity -- to spend a lengthy amount of time in another country, immersed in its culture.

My Best Moments at UMM Were:
There are many great CS moments that come to mind:

• Spending the day talking about functional languages with Nic McPhee in Atlanta during the World Programming Championships
• Spending an entire quarter in the dungeon writing code for the inaugural Software Design and Development course; truly an experience
• Revamping the CS curriculum with the faculty during semester conversion
• And many more...

How UMM Prepared Me for the Job Market:
UMM definitely prepared me for the job market -- I had a few internships during the summers and always felt like my education made me a competent programmer, a critical thinker, and a good communicator.

The Best Classes I took at UMM Were:
CS 1300, a programming course in Scheme, was fantastic. CS 3190, software design and development, was crazy because of its unreasonable expectations and our willingness to achieve them. I enjoyed the unusual class format of AI -- mostly discussion with a philosophy of mind twist. I enjoyed the Theory of Computation because the material is really beautiful and fun.

In all, I feel the UMM CSCI experience was exceptional. It was a theoretically strong program but still emphasized strong design and programming skills. There was great camaraderie among the majors. We wrote a lot of code together, but had fun doing it. Developing personal relationships with the professors helped make the classes feel more relaxed, more like a team on an expedition; a shared learning experience. When entering graduate school I felt as prepared as any of my peers who had graduated from the top schools in the country. A friend recently told me that the key to learning is to remember that the mind is like a toy and that using it is just playing around. I think that advice would have made a lot of sense to us back then.